Revenge of the Import Section

Greetings FPNYC faithful! It’s been nearly 2 months since yours truly hit up any sort of convention, so I’m going to put that to an end this weekend as I head down to Heroescon in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s my first time there, and there are a number of really cool creators in town for the show, so needless to say I’m excited. I’ll obviously have some fun stories to tell come next week, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, there are toys to be discuss right now!

I know I’ve been looking at the Square Enix Play Art Kai line a lot as of late, but it’s kind of hard not to at this point. They’ve released A TON of new figures as of late, and the newest 3 we’ve gotten in are some of the company’s best work to date. First we have Kratos, the star of Sony’s “God of War” series, which is the type of Play Arts I want to see more of. Based on his appearance from “God of War 3”, Kratos’ sculpt and poseability, not to mention scale, easily dwarves and previous releases of the character. In terms of accessories, Kratos, comes packed with the Blades of Exile, which can be attached to his armor, the Claws of Hades, and of course, a pair of alternate hands. Kratos goes for about $55, which isn’t so bad, considering all that you’re getting with him.

HOWEVER, in terms of bargains, the “Vanquish” Play Arts are where the real value lie. Platinum Game’s cult release of 2010 may now have gotten the same amount of love or polish as the game it followed up with (Bayonetta, a favorite of mine), but both the game’s lead Sam Gideon and enemy Bogeyare easily 2 of the most impressive Play Arts to date. Pictures do not do the figures justices, as the amount of detail on the sculpts is insane, and the articulation is not sacrificed as a result. In addition, they both come with weapons, removeable accessories, and a ton of variant pieces. This does come with a bit of a price increase($70), but it’s only $10 more than the average Play Arts. I assure you, it’s a bargain; and it’s nice to see Square make some amazing figures from a lesser know property.

Let’s close this article with a look at another pair of armored characters. After being sold-out for the longest time, Bandai has finally gotten around to re-releasing two of their most popular Figuarts to date: Wild Tiger and Barnaby “Bunny” Brooks Jr from the hit anime “Tiger and Bunny.” We’ve looked at some of the new figures from this series before, but the 1st two figures in the series sold out so fast, I never have a chance to look at them. Finally back on our shelves (for less this time around actually!), not only are the duo some of the most popular releases, but 2 of the best figures from Bandai to date. The sculpts themselves are great, as a variety of different plastics were used to recreate the pair’s armor from the show, doing their anime counterparts justice. Each of the characters come packaged with special stands, in addition to “Good Luck Mode” parts (a giant mech-fist for Tiger, and a giant-shin for Barnaby). At $50 a pop, both figures are now available for half of what their marked-up Ebay prices were. I recommend you come by immediately if you want them, because once word gets out, they’re not going to last. And we actually have a ton more new import toys in stock, but I’ll save those for the future, when I’m not supposed to be packing for a flight.